NEW DELHI -Why Chinese? The screaming headline on hoardings in the capital and beyond showcasing new US smartphone maker InFocus clearly signals the beginning of an era for the Indian consumers to look beyond the high-end premium Apple to affordable and mid-segment devices from American players.The truth is that amid 50 Chinese players and several ‘Make in India’ vendors—and not to forget market leaders Samsung and Apple...

—the space for a new entrant is shrinking. But then, a novel device coupled with smart advertising and voila!, you have created the right buzz. This is what two new US smartphone makers—San Francisco-based Nextbit and Oregon-based InFocus—are doing right now. Both companies are dependent on Taiwanese electronics contract manufacturing company Foxconn for their supplies in the Asia Pacific region. While NextBit has “Cloud first” Android device Robin for Rs 19,999 which comes with 100 GB of free Cloud storage, InFocus has launched a bouquet of smartphones—from affordable to mid-segment range—in India.According to experts, India is the second-largest smartphone market in terms of users, though one of the most underpenetrated, with just a fourth of the potential population owning a smartphone.And this is where these two US players are looking to make deeper inroads. “We believe the only way to stand out is to be more than a phone—to be a movement that people want to be a part of. Nextbit has a style, a voice and a way of doing things that people want to be a part of and emulate,” said Shankar Parasaram, Nextbit’s Head of India Operations. “A personality fans can relate to is the way for us to stand out, and a way for us to build life-long fans—not one-time buyers who focus on price or specs alone,” Parasaram said.“We are just getting to know the Indian market, having only entered it a few months ago. We are still getting to know India better. We have done a tour already—with meet-ups in several cities—and are on our way back to do another in a week,” Parasaram added. On the other hand, with its affordable BINGO Android series in the Rs 4,000-Rs 8,000 segment, InFocus has already created a niche space. The company has also launched Buddy, a portable notebook for Rs 14,999 that runs on Windows 10. The truth is: The sub-Rs 7,000 segment contributes to almost 50 per cent of the total smartphone market in India and is one of the most competitive segments, driven by first-time smartphone buyers and dominated by local players. (IANS)